On March 13, Mirror Weekly published a copy of the latest Minsk protocol signed during the tripartite contact group meeting that took place in Minsk on March 11. The Office of the President of Ukraine announced that the parties reached an agreement on a future prisoner’s exchange, the separation of forces and military equipment, the opening of the checkpoint in the villages of Zolotoy and Schastya and the establishment of the Advisory Council.
It was the latter decision that caused the most questions and concerns among representatives of the Ukrainian expert community. Commentators note that the latest protocol refers to the actual endorsement of the “DNR” and “LNR” groups as a negotiating party in Minsk. The same opinion is shared by the head of the board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, a member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Eskender Bariiev.
“Indeed, according to the document, Ukraine and representatives of certain regions of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions (ORDLO), that is, the so-called“ DNR ”and“ LNR ”, become parties to the negotiations. But the most important is that Russia positions itself as an observer, the status formally equated to that of the OSCE, Germany, and France. What is at stake here is that accepting this terminology means recognizing that Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory as an internal Ukrainian conflict, and not Russian aggression,” explained the Crimean Tatar expert in an interview with Krym.Realii.
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Eskender Bariiev admitted the inevitability of peace talks with the representatives of the people left on the occupied territory but “LNR” and “DNR” must in no good faith be the legitimate representatives of these people.
“They were chosen at gunpoint, and thus cannot represent the interests of the local population. Moreover, let’s not forget that a significant number of people simply left these territories and currently reside in areas controlled by Ukraine. Without fair and transparent elections that would include the entire population of this region, there can be no talk about representation. In this case, we have an attempt to legitimize illegal paramilitary groups,” said the Crimean Tatar activist.
The higher threat, however, is the refusal to recognize Russia as a party to the conflict and assigning it the status of "international observer".
“Our refusal to acknowledge the fact of Russian aggression and present the situation as an “internal Ukrainian conflict ”entails several serious consequences. Firstly, it may lead to the curtailment of the economic sanctions imposed on Russia precisely for the invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory. Now Moscow is mostly concerned with two issues: the lifting of sanctions and the supply of water to the Crimea. Therefore, it is very important for Russia to be able to declare at the international level that “Ukraine itself recognizes this an internal conflict, which means that there are no grounds for imposing sanctions on Russia,” a member of the Mejlis warns.
Eskender Bariiev also fears that such concessions to Moscow could provoke Russia to continue aggression.
“The Kremlin will not calm down and will continue his attempts to take Ukraine under its full control. This, on the one hand, will cast doubt on the preservation of the unitarity of the Ukrainian state, and on the other hand, will create a lever of political influence on Ukraine. Of course, we want peace, but we are not ready to abandon Crimea and take back Donbas on Russian terms. Moreover, having solved its economic problems with sanctions and the supply of water to Crimea, Kremlin will continue its efforts to destroy and further occupy Ukraine. We must not forget 14 thousand victims in the east of the country, both among the Ukrainian military and civilians. In the case of the signing of such an agreement, as provided for in the protocol, legal and material responsibility for all these losses, including economic devastation, is transferred to Ukraine itself and, therefore, to the Ukrainian people. The real criminals guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, however, will evade responsibility. Accordingly, the position of Ukraine in international courts will be significantly weakened,” the expert says.
Eskender Bariiev reminds that as of today, international courts consider cases in which Ukraine opposes Russia as a state. Also, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) considers hundreds of cases by victims of Russia from Crimea, including case to ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.
“The UN also considers the case on the violation of two international conventions, one is on financing terrorism, and the second on racial discrimination, both directly relate to the predicament of the Crimean Tatars and the Mejlis due to the occupation of Crimea. In 2019, Russia tried to challenge the jurisdiction of the court for consideration of this case, but we were able to defend our right to appeal to the UN International Court of Justice. The hearing of these cases will commence this year. If Ukraine allows the weakening of its positions, we might lose in the international court,” Bariiev expresses his confidence.
Lastly, the Crimean Tatar activist warns that negotiations with militants will postpone the topic of the occupation of Crimea further, leading to its complete oblivion.
“This poses a threat to the demands protesters on Maidan were fighting for, European and Euro-Atlantic integration. One of the problems today is that public actions to resist this capitulation, are significantly limited because of the coronavirus epidemic. On the one hand, the ban of social contacting is logical and justified, but, on the other hand, the impossibility for society to express its discontent now should not be a reason for taking actions leading to the loss of Ukrainian sovereignty, ”concludes Eskender Bariiev.